a dog eat dog world
by samanddianefan10
Summary: sequel to a dog's purpose by SJ Smith. After a night of Eddie's constant staring, Frasier reflects on why Eddie bothers him so much


Martin went down to Mcguinty's, so it was just Frasier and Eddie. After about twenty minutes of Eddie's nonstop staring, it all got too much for Frasier. He grabbed his jacket, a book and headed to Cafe Nervosa where he could be alone with his thoughts.

Except he kept finding his thoughts turning back to Eddie. Curse him, he thought as he tried to flip through the pages of his book. He was far away from Eddie, but still couldn't get the little scoundrel out of his mind. What was going on?

It wasn't as if he hadn't ever had a dog before. Back in Boston he had a small one, named Pavlov. How he had loved that dog! Things with Diane were a bit rocky, but at least he had the companionship of Pavlov to come home to every night. Much like Martin did with Eddie, Frasier had found himself venting his frustrations to Pavlov- and seeing that he was dating Diane, there were plenty of frustrations to be vented.

He and Diane had tried living together. It appeared as if Diane was allergic to Pavlov, so he gave him to Sam, who promptly renamed him "Diane." it was all cute and funny in the beginning. But it wasn't an allergy that was keeping Diane from settling into domestic life with Frasier- it was lingering thoughts of Sam. How could he talk to anyone at the bar about that? They would have just made fun of him, and certainly they wouldn't have understood or cared how bad it hurt for him being at the losing end of a rotten game.

Boston. Frasier chuckled to himself when he thought of the days where he spent night after night at a local watering hole, preferring the company of a few crazy barflies than to that of his own little family, even after he had married Lilith and they had Frederick. Frederick's first word had been 'Norm!'

Even though he enjoyed those days and wouldn't trade them for a second, he realized he had something much better than the gang at Boston could have ever offered him. He had a relationship with his family. Things with Martin hadn't gone smoothly at first, but they were starting to work themselves out. And there was Niles. He and Niles hadn't gotten along so well at any time in their lives. Their relationship had been one of competition and envy, and hadn't been so smooth in the past.

But now, there was almost no one's company he preferred to than Niles'. (though he might not confess that just yet!) And there was Daphne- Frasier hadn't initially wanted her at first, but through her warmth, kookiness and overall caring, she turned out to be just what the family needed.

Back to Eddie. What was it about the little mutt that bothered him so? After some reflecting, it occurred to Frasier that he reminded him too much of Pavlov, too much of his time with Diane, which was one of the worst times in his life.

But this was not Pavlov, and this most certainly was not Boston. He'd come too far to ever look too far back, so it was with a little smile that he ordered a scone to go.

Once he arrived back at his place, the first thing he did was toss the scone in front of Eddie, who looked at him curiously.

"It's okay, Eddie. I'd say you deserve it," Frasier reached down and ever so gently touched the top of the dog's head, then Eddie turned his attention to the unexpected treat.

"Dad, what are you doing here? I thought you'd be gone for the night!" Frasier exclaimed when he saw a smirking Martin appear from the kitchen.

"They were out of Ballentine's, and seeing as I had a fresh supply at home, I thought I'd come back for a quiet night with Eddie. It appears I'm not the only one with that thought," Martin teased.

"Dad, if this ever leaves this room..."

Martin waved his hand in the air. "Your secret's safe with me." After a pause, he grinned. "He kind of grows on you after a bit, doesn't he?"

"Dad, I thought we agreed not to talk about this!"

"I only said I wouldn't tell anyone. I never agreed not to rag on you a bit."

"Oh, for heaven's sake! I'm going to bed!" Frasier huffed.

"Oh, Frase, haven't you forgotten one thing?"

"Dad, the remote is on the chair, right where you can grab it! Not that it ever leaves that spot!"

Martin laughed. "Aren't you going to tell Eddie good night?"

Frasier shook his head then stormed off to his room. It was a good thing he made it to his room when he did, for a sly grin spread across his face. Eddie notwithstanding, there was truly no place like home. He wouldn't trade a minute with his family for anything. Maybe Eddie, but there was always tomorrow for that.

The end


End file.
